Shangri-La Frontier Season 2

Episode 44

I love situations where a show takes a mission and seemingly turns it on its head. In this episode's case, that happens both figuratively and quite literally. We've reached the next stage of this unique encounter. However, instead of a typical “defeat the boss" scenario, it seems to be an escort mission, which makes sense when you consider that the captain NPC that started the encounter seems to have a vendetta against the unique monster that our party is going after. I wonder how the show will resolve this plot, but that is more exciting than the typical alternative.

The pacing slows down in the second half of this episode as Sunraku gets separated from the rest of his party members and is just exploring an abandoned city. I hope we don't spend too much time away from the rest of the cast as it does feel like a bit of a waste to gather this team together, only to separate them as soon as the unique encounter starts.

There is a possibility that this will happen for a while considering that Sunraku technically has about a week to complete this encounter. On the one hand, that could seem like a lot of time, but considering how big this new area was, it might not be enough. Or at the very least it could lead to a situation where we need to cover a lot of ground before we can move onto the next plot. I like a few moments in this episode, such as how Sunraku gets his comeuppance with his new bonus ability having a massive drawback where there's always a chance that he can't heal himself anymore. I know he rationalizes that as long as he doesn't get hit, it should be OK but there are other situations where he can get hurt. He might end up fighting at an unnecessary disadvantage. I'm also curious about this new Fish Man character that got introduced. He has to be an NPC tied into the unique scenario, but for what purpose? I like that these unique scenarios are mini stories that almost play out like little mysteries. I wonder how long it will take before this mystery gets solved and what the resolution will be.

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